Last weekend I tried my first ever Vegan Freakshake and it was quite a magical experience. So I thought it was only right I tell ya all about it. Beforehand I worked up an appetite pretending I was a kid playing in the ball pool at the ‘Museum of Happiness’ – you can check out my blog all about it here.
Basically a Freakshake is an incredibly fancy, and veeery indulgent milkshake/cake. They became a bit of a viral phenomenon across the internet last year, with companies competing to see whose shake could be bigger and more calorific. All very well, but none of them were vegan so they didn’t interest me… That was until a friend told me about a cute little place called the Canvas Cafe on Brick Lane in East London that had created London’s first Vegan (and gluten/refined-sugar free) Freakshake, made completely from scratch in their kitchen.
There are three flavours available: Chocolate and Hazelnut, Raspberry, and a special flavour that changes depending on the season. At the moment it’s Spiced Pumpkin, and in the past it’s been Piña Colada, Coconut and Dark Chocolate (yum!), and Avocado and Lime.
I opted for a Chocolate & Hazelnut shake, with extra banana (as I’m a huge banana milkshake fan since my mum used to make them for me when I was mini). The shake is topped with whipped soya cream, and contains homemade ice cream (created with coconut milk and bananas) blended with almond milk; also with chunks of raw, gluten-free, refined sugar-free and vegan cake. The cakes (which have a date and nut base) are made with beetroot and raspberry or avocado and chocolate, depending on which freakshake flavour you go for.
Despite the fact most of the sugars in the freakshakes are natural, and all of the ingredients are fresh and purposefully chosen to be as healthy as possible, the freakshakes are not for the faint hearted. They’re incredibly rich and best shared with a friend, or having as like, your only meal of the day…? That being said, I will definitely be heading back soon for another! So. Tasty.
The freakshakes cost £8 – which I think is pretty reasonable considering they are made from scratch, are more than big enough to share between 2, and in one of Londons trendiest areas, just off Brick Lane. They are available daily (when the cafe is open – it’s closed on Mondays) until 5pm in the winter and until 7pm in the summer.
If you visit the cafe, make sure you check out all the questions written on the white walls of the cafe (there’s also a downstairs too) and add your own replies. I was very happy to find a sharpie in my bag and got involved with a few of the questions (documented above ft. my very excited face). The Canvas Cafe also also has a savoury menu, including a dish of the day. On Saturday’s the dish of the day is a vegan lasagne, which I tried and it was so good! Although in hindsight I’m not sure I needed anything to eat ahead of the giant Freakshake!
Shout out to Ruth at the Canvas Cafe for inviting me to come along and review, and to Kelsey (who has a blog all about young adult books, which you can check out here) for being excellent company and taking some of the pics in this blog too.
If you enjoyed this, you might like reading about the Veganuary menu at All Bar One (available throughout February too) or the delicious Vegan friendly chocolates available from Hotel Chocolat.
Okay, so this looks blimmin AMAZING.
It WAS blimmin’ amazing. Like heaven in my mouth, haha.
Lx
ah i love this you look so happy 🙂
http://www.j-anne.co
Haha I was! It was a really fun afternoon and the Freakshake was sooo good
Lx